Page 87 of Fortune's Control
I wanted to belong here, too, with Shane every night. Could you blame me?
29-Shane
“Last practice before we play Panther Springs.”
“Last practice before you beat Panther Springs,” Lilah corrected for me. “We stopped at the ice cream parlor first. Do you want a lick?” She offered me her chocolate ice cream cone.
“That sounds suggestive,” Lainey said.
“Damn, I hope so.” I guided Lilah’s hand to her lips to watch her tongue glide over the treat. “You two enjoy. Did Aiden come with you? Practice starts in a few.”
“He’s struggling,” Lainey said.
She pointed with her thumb to where Aiden wiped a strawberry double scoop from his white shirt. He waved and returned to his cleanup.
Lilah said, “We made awesome progress today, and planned for more tomorrow. He’ll be with me the entire time.”
“If he’ll be there, I’ll drop you off.”
Aiden commented on taxes and accounting during movie night, and Lilah offered her services. This morning, he’d dumped a box of crumpled receipts and stained invoices on a desk and then looked on in horror as she’d done a little dance.
Lilah beckoned me close. “I can’t wait to take those shorts off you.”
I stared down at my gray athletic shorts, wondering what was wrong, before it hit me. “Tonight, after dinner, if you go first.”
“It’s best that you put your shirt back on.”
“It’s hot.”
She gestured with her chin toward the visitor bleachers. “There are children here today.”
*****
“Asher, what are you doing here?” Lainey said to one teen.
The teenagers’ conversation ceased after her question. One of them, presumably Asher, pulled off his sunglasses, revealing the same black hair and aquiline nose as Lainey. “We’re here to check out our new baseball coach.” He smiled at me with a youth’s confidence. “You led our school to the state championship.”
“I was part of the team that went to the championships,” I corrected.
“You’re taking up the coaching position?” Jack asked.
Surprises didn’t exist in a small town, including Fortune’s Creek. “Starting the next school year.”
“Damn, good for you,” he said.
Lilah, on the home team bleachers, beamed down at me with pride and pleasure. Her green tank top and denim shorts complemented the Florida weather. She arrived in Fortune’s Creek over a month ago and blended in like a local. Like she belonged.
“We wanted to meet you,” Asher continued. “The younger ones tagged along.”
A dozen kids, ranging from ten to eighteen, were all students at the local school.
Practice was due to start, and they were here. Why not? I shrugged. “We’re running drills today. Why don’t you and your friends join our practice and show us what you’ve got?”
“Oh, no way.” Asher fist-bumped one of his friends.
I raised a hand to stop them. “There are younger kids on this field with you. Part of practice is teaching, so if you want to play, you help those who need it. Got it?”
They went to run warm-up laps, leaving one small girl behind. I noted her pink blouse and the ponytail holders in her thick,curly braids.
